DUNMORE, Pa. — Table saws buzz through wood, and those pieces are screwed into place by high schoolers.
Carpentry students from the Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County are building benches for the Dunmore Missy Softball League at Sherwood Park.
"It gives me skills and gets me better at doing what I do. And it's very important for me," says student Thomas Hazelton.
Riley Robinson is from Dunmore and a CTC carpentry student. He says he's glad to be doing a project he's familiar with.
"I've been at this park a thousand times. I used to play soccer here a lot of baseball and go to the playground, so it's just nice to be able to give back to the community," Robinson said.
The benches weren't the only thing that needed to be fixed at the softball complex.
Dunmore Missy League officials say they've replaced the dugouts, fencing, and more, saying nothing had been done for years.
"We had a lot of drainage issues on the fields, a lot of ponding of water, some fencing issues, the old dugouts were kind of really getting old," said league Vice President John Mecca.
"It was bad. The benches were falling apart, the dugouts were definitely also falling apart. It's looking even better now, and it's not even done yet," Robinson said.
League officials say they received state funds for this project, which costs about $100,000.
Mecca says the students getting hands-on experience is a bonus for keeping those costs down, "It does help a lot having the kids from CTC do this."
All of the improvements took about six weeks, and league officials say it will all be worth it when the players take the field on opening day this weekend.
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